About this Presentation
This TOCICO Masterclass introduces Finance and Throughput Accounting as a practical alternative to traditional cost-accounting approaches that can distort managerial decisions. Based on Throughput Economics by Eli Schragenheim, Henry Camp, and Rocco Surace, the session explains how unit costs, full absorption, local efficiencies, and conventional profitability measures can lead organizations away from better global results. Participants are introduced to Throughput, Operating Expense, and Investment; the principle of growing Throughput faster than Operating Expense; and a practical decision process that incorporates capacity, uncertainty, cash flow, and cross-functional judgment. Through examples such as the Daily Bread case, the session demonstrates how finance and measures can become tools for better decisions rather than barriers to improvement.
What Will You Learn
To help you get the most value from this session, we’ve highlighted a few key points. These takeaways capture the main ideas and practical insights from the presentation, making it easier for you to review, reflect, and apply what you’ve learned.
This masterclass challenges a fundamental management assumption: a lower unit cost does not necessarily mean a better business decision. It shows how traditional cost-accounting practices such as full absorption, local efficiency measures, and allocated unit costs can lead managers to reject good opportunities or optimize one part of the business at the expense of the whole.
The session introduces the three global measures at the heart of Throughput Accounting: Throughput (T), Operating Expense (OE), and Investment (I). Rather than judging products or departments independently, these measures help leaders evaluate how a decision affects the performance of the entire organization.
One of the most practical ideas is the rule ΔT > ΔOE — grow Throughput faster than Operating Expense. The Daily Bread example shows how an opportunity that appears unprofitable under a traditional unit-cost calculation can look very different when protective capacity and the true change in Throughput and expense are considered.
The session goes beyond accounting formulas to show how finance can support better operational decisions under uncertainty. Attendees see how protective capacity, ranges rather than single-point forecasts, cross-functional decision-making, free cash flow, and financial-health-specific metrics can create a more useful management system.
Instructor(s)
Henry F. Camp
Henry F. Camp - After earning a BA in Mathematics at the University ofVirginia, Camp taught for several years before joining Shippers Solutions, where he designed and programmed his own ERP system to improve the company’s operational effectiveness. After five years, he bought the
company and still owns it, having grown sales tenfold. www.ssco.pro A $4 billion customer implored Henry to manage their $70 million raw material inventories in 4 different countries. New software was created and deployed. Within months, five warehouses in four countries all demonstrated 6σ inventory accuracy. More importantly, the client’s shortages disappeared, which had previously delayed a third of planned production schedules. Added benefit: inventory needed dropped 70%.This spin off became IDEA, LLC, of which Mr. Camp owned the majority,
until it was sold in 2022.
IDEA expanded scope, delivering supply chain consulting using replenishment software based on constraints theory. In the early 2000’s, Henry formed a personal relationship with Eli Goldratt author of The Goal. A major client was adidas, who used IDEA’s Elucidate software to double their same-store sales without increased inventory or expense. He collaborated with Bahadir Inozu at Turkish Technic, Turkish Airline’s internal MRO group. Camp gained recognition as a worldwide authority in supply chains.
Henry shifted to buying companies instead of consulting. He raised money in the early 2010s to establish TOC Equity Partners which acquired and substantially improved three companies, using TOC and his operational expertise. These acquisitions have either been sold or are being positioned for sale at dramatic profits. With constraints theory experts Eli Schragenheim and Rocco Surace, he published his second book in 2019 titled Throughput Economics. The book expands TOC Throughput Accounting, showing how to apply a simple holistic approach in many different business cases. Throughput Economics helps companies improve quickly and significantly. As its ideas are more broadly adopted, future difficult economic shifts will be made easier, enhancing the world economy. He is currently the Manager of The Aviation Protection Group, which will support commercial airlines, as passenger traffic returns to normal, post-coronavirus pandemic.